Slovenia has become the first European Union country to completely ban arms trade with Israel in an effort to pressure the Israeli government over the war in the Gaza Strip. About this informs Bloomberg.
The decision concerns a complete ban on the import, export and transit of weapons to and from Israel. The relevant step was announced by the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob. According to him, “Palestinians are dying because they are systematically denied humanitarian aid,” and he also emphasized that Israel’s actions are “serious violations of international law.” Holoba emphasized that Slovenia cannot wait for a unified position of the EU, which still remains divided in its approaches to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It is the duty of every responsible state to take action, even if it means taking a step ahead of others”, — added the prime minister of Slovenia.
This is not the first tough step taken by Slovenia towards Israeli politicians. Last month, it became the first EU country to declare National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich persona non grata. Later, the Netherlands joined it. Slovenia also recognized Palestine as an independent state in 2024, along with Spain, Ireland and Norway.
It will be recalled that on July 29, Prime Minister of Great Britain Keir Starmer said that his government will recognize Palestine if Israel does not stop hostilities in the Gaza Strip by September. At the same time, he stressed that Hamas militants should release all hostages and conclude a cease-fire agreement.
